Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Verdict: America On Trial

So it's official, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. As I allow this to sink in, I find myself reflecting to how it all began. For me, when this incident first occurred, I found myself on the side of Trayvon Martin. Like so many, I tried to reason with myself that George Zimmerman was guilty because of two things, first, he got out of the car. Secondly, he was carrying a gun.

Like so many others, I got caught up in the emotional aspects of this case. It wasn't long before I was able to stand back and away from that emotion and began looking at it from a different perspective. The reason for this was; I realized that I was taking the same side as the racist organization known as The Black Panther Party. I also realized that I was on the same side as Al Sharpton, one of the biggest racists in the country. This drew red flags for me. And because of these red flags, I had to look at this from the side of rationality rather than emotion.

You see, when racists get involved and start pulling the race card when it had yet to be established that race was a factor, then it's time to reevaluate the situation. That's just what I did. In this process, I began to look at this case from a legal standpoint.

While it was already established early on that young Trayvon Martin clearly wasn't doing anything illegal that dreadful night, I turned my attention to George Zimmerman and what it was that he did that was illegal. Part of gathering this information was for me to talk to some community watch people in my area. After all, George Zimmerman was the captain of his community watch and his position was that he was following protocol as captain of his community watch. It turns out that he he didn't break any laws that night either.

First, he spotted an individual of whom he was not familiar with walking down the street in a community where there had been a lot of recent break ins. Obviously, Mr. Zimmerman had no idea that it was a 17 year old kid just walking home from the store.  Did Mr. Zimmerman profile Trayvon for being black? Did he profile him for wearing a hoodie? Did he profile him for being black and wearing a hoodie? .... Probably so, but that doesn't make George Zimmerman any more of a racist than Trayvon referring to George as a "cracker". But because we now know that Trayvon used the racial slur "cracker", means that maybe he too, profiled George Zimmerman.

George Zimmerman also failed to break any laws when he phoned police about this suspicious individual. Nor did he break any laws by getting out of his vehicle. He also failed to break any laws by carrying a gun which he had a permit for. So when it came to breaking any laws at this point, none were broken by either party. And yet, somehow, the outcome of these two individuals meeting came to a deadly conclusion.

Why is this?

This is when I began to realize something awful was going on. Something that I think everybody is overlooking. While the emotional aspects of this case rages on, the obvious reason for why this situation went down in the manner that it did fails to register with very many people. Sure, the obvious reasons are there for us to pick at and attack, but sometimes, we can't see the forest for the trees. 

For some strange reason, I did something I never did before. I decided to follow this trial. Something inside of me was saying that there was something bigger, more sinister going on here than what first meets the eye. I never did this before. Not with O.J. Simpson, not with Scott Peterson, Casey Anthony, or even with Jodie Arias. I also stay far, far away from the evil Nancy Grace. But this trial, that of George Zimmerman, I was compelled to follow all the way. 

Maybe it was because the first prosecutor of choice turned down this case for lack of evidence. Or maybe it was because the police chief of Sanford county was fired for not issuing an arrest warrant for George Zimmerman for lack of evidence . (Later on, on the second day of jury deliberations, the I.T. director of the Florida State Attorney's Office, Ben Kruidbos, was fired for testifying that the prosecution team withheld evidence from the Zimmerman defense team.)

All of this smells of something horrible going on behind the scenes. I guess I wanted to get to the root of that smell. While watching the trial, I did indeed discover what that smell was. 

I know first hand what it is like to called a racist by someone who doesn't even know me. I was called a racist by a person whom I suspect to be a racist themselves. I say this because, anyone who calls another person whom they don't even know a racist when no such evidence is presented, are themselves a racist at heart. Or just plain ignorant. Or both. But that's just my opinion or theory. And based on facts that of which I have learned through my years of life on this planet, and the foundation of what we know regarding psychology nowadays, I'll stick to that opinion or theory. None the less, I didn't see anything racist coming from George Zimmerman's actions. Not even the FBI found any evidence that George Zimmerman acted from racism in their investigation. Yet, many people continue to pull the race card in this incident. 

But why?

I know and understand that there still remains one major issue in this very bizarre case. A case where neither individual was really guilty of any law violations yet, a young man lost his life because of it. So, if neither of the two individuals involved were guilty of any wrong doing, then how did Trayvon Martin end up dead as a result?

The answer most will say in response is - "Because George Zimmerman pulled the trigger". - And I so much want to say that also, however, as according to the definitions of the Florida Law of "stand your ground", George Zimmerman acted accordingly within that law. THEN IT STRUCK ME! George Zimmerman didn't pull the trigger on Trayvon Martin that fateful night, the state of Florida did. 

Confused? ... Then allow me to explain.

First, let me ask this question, why does Florida have a "stand your ground" law in the first place? Why would Texas have it? Or any state for that matter? Don't we already have it in the constitution of the United States? From that constitution, don't we already have the right as American citizens to protect ourselves and others and our property with lethal force if need be? And don't we have a second amendment right to bear arms? .... So why do we need a "stand your ground" law? 

You see, I figured it out. I realized that if the state of Florida did not have a "stand your ground" law then George Zimmerman wouldn't have been able to stand behind it in his defense. And maybe, just maybe, George Zimmerman wouldn't have killed Trayvon Martin that fateful night if he knew he didn't have that law to stand behind in the first place. 

Think about it.

Then comes the question, who voted for the "stand your ground" law in the first place? And why did the state of Florida feel the need to make "stand your ground" into law? Was it because of the democrats always attacking our second amendment rights that the state of Florida, and its citizens, felt the need for such law? ... This is what got me to thinking about the involvement of politics being largely responsible for the death of an innocent teen. That and the involvement of the U.S. Department of (In)Justice financing racial demonstrations against George Zimmerman. Oh no, Mr. Zimmerman didn't pull the trigger that dark night, America pulled the trigger! I pulled it! You pulled it! We all pulled it! And unfortunately, our whole country, government and politicians pulled that trigger that night which resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin.

The death of young Trayvon Martin isn't just on the head of one George Zimmerman, it is on the head of all Americans. We have allowed our political parties (democrats and republicans) to divide this country. This can be widely seen by the fact that I noticed democrats calling for Zimmerman being guilty and republicans declaring him not guilty. This case had nothing to do about race, but everything to do about politics and the huge divide between the people of this country. And who is most responsible for this divide? Politics and the media. And the U.S. Department of (In)Justice.

The first thing we should have done in the Trayvon Martin death is condemn and refute any involvement by Al Sharpton and The black Panther Party. We, as a nation of people, should have never allowed these racists to enter the picture in the first place. But this issue didn't start with George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, it began many years earlier when we the people of the united states allowed our government to separate themselves from us. This situation began when the American people allowed the American government to become its own entity, and it began when we allowed our politicians to divide us as a nation. We allowed this to happen when we began blaming guns for killing people instead of holding those who use guns to kill responsible for their individual actions. We allowed this to happen when we as a nation allowed the democrats to attack our second amendment rights. 

Let this be a wake up call for America and Americans. Our problems within our justice system isn't George Zimmerman, or people like him. Our problems reside in our government and our non-commonsense laws that we the people allow our politicians to enact. Our problems surround our political system. And our political system allows things like this to occur. The only way to fix our justice system, and to prevent what happened to Trayvon Martin to happen to anyone else is to change the structure of our political system. To get rid of both parties, democratic and republican, who only work for themselves instead of the people of this nation. 

No more evidence is needed than what I saw in this trial and everything that surrounded it. The disgraceful manner in which the prosecution went about their business in their case against George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman shouldn't have been the one on trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin, but our government should have been on trial. We should have been on trial as a nation for the death of this young man. 

When the verdict came in, I admit, I wept. But I didn't weep just for the lost of an innocent life that is Trayvon Martin, nor did I weep for what George Zimmerman willl now have to face for the rest of his life .... I wept for a nation. A nation of ignorant people who will more than likely continue to use race as their weapon, never to realize that the true weapon used against young Trayvon martin wasn't the gun that George Zimmerman held in his hand that night, or any possible racist emotion, but the weapon of politics used to divide a great nation against itself.

We are all in this world together people. We either learn to live by the message of the late great Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., which was that ALL people are entitled their rights, human dignity, and respect through love, peace and understanding, or we die by by our own hands of hate, racism, and division established by the American government and American politics.

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. didn't just stand up for the rights of black people, he stood for the rights of ALL people, which includes womens rights as well. We are all equal to the rights of what every human being deserves, and are entitled to. If we don't change the ways of our political path (or structure) we currently find ourselves on, then expect more George Zimmerman's in the future. And while you're at it, expect more Trayvon Martin's too. 

This case wasn't about George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, it was about a country divided. Divided by its politics and ignorance. 


God bless Trayvon Martin

God bless George Zimmerman

God bless the United States of America

(We sure could use it right about now)

I long for the day these tears of pain stop rolling down my face

We are not a world of black and white - but rather - a world of human beings

Love, peace, and understanding must prevail or we are doomed

Unite, not divide  


I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.


Things We learned Today:


* Carroll Bryant weeps for all of mankind.


Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On?"



7 comments:

  1. You're right Carroll, punishing George Zimmerman isn't going to change the events which led to Trayvon's death. We're all responsible for what happened. I thought I was the only one who felt this way. Many people tend to forget that blacks can be racists too. I don't think this has to do with racism, but more to the 'stand your ground' law. Without that law, George Zimmerman is guilty of manslaughter. Instead of going after Zimmerman for justice, we should look at ourselves and our politics. Our goal should be to do the things we need to do to ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again. Putting Zimmerman in jail isn't going to do that. Putting an end to insane laws like 'stand your ground', however, will.

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  2. Just abolish the concealed weapon law. All weapons must be visible on the person that way we at least KNOW who's armed and who is not. Night watchmen and Security Guards do exactly what Zim did. They aren't police either. You can blame the government and you make some good points Carroll, but I hold the media and civil rights activists accountable for this disaster. I am happy with the verdict in this case, it at least showed that the law still works the way it was intended. Sadly though, if Zim didn't have the financial backing, he'd probably been guilty. Just shows you another aspect, money is the law of the land. That's a scarier thought Carroll because all your points above got to be the way they are not due to the people, but do to special interest corporations and parties via the use of MONEY.

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    1. Abolish the concealed weapons law? ... Good idea. I would agree to that. And I also agree that special interest groups and the media are also very much responsible. And yes, unfortunately, money too seems to be a key factor where justice is concerned. It has to change. It really has to change. But like Michael Jackson said, real change starts with the man in the mirror.

      For myself, I will be looking a little harder in that mirror from this point forward.

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  3. I'm going to throw this out there - but I refuse to post criminal comments made by criminals on this blog. By this I mean, wishing George Zimmerman and or his family death and or saying that Trayvon Martin deserved what he got. If you wish to criminalize yourself in this manner, do so on your own social media account or somebody else's blog. Do not do it here. I will not post it.

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  4. No black person has ever been arrested, tried or convicted of a hate crime against a white person by the federal government or DOJ. Does anyone else find that unusual?

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    1. Interesting anon. I might look into that and do a post about it.

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    2. Keep in mind though .... that George Zimmerman is Hispanic. I wonder if there has ever been a Hispanic convicted by the feds for a hate crime?

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